


Find Our Way Home

by frantic65



Category: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2014-12-03
Packaged: 2018-02-28 00:08:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2711774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frantic65/pseuds/frantic65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two men meet at a small bar in Wyoming on a snowy Christmas eve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Find Our Way Home

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short little holiday story set in an alternate, yet very similar universe.

_For we all seem to give our lives away_  
Searching for things that we think we must own   
But on this evening   
When the year is leaving   
I think I would be alright   
If on this Christmas night   
I could just find my way home  
~Find Our Way Home~Trans-Siberian Orchestra 

“Evening, Stranger.” The bartender greeted the newcomer with a nod and a smile, setting a beer before him as the man nodded his agreement. 

The man idly watched the football game playing soundlessly from the beat up, fuzzy-screened TV above the bar for a moment, sipping his brew thoughtfully before signaling to the bartender. 

“What’s his story?” the man gestured with his head in the direction of the bar’s only other occupant; Christmas Eve being the slowest night of the year for this little dive in the ass end of Wyoming. 

“Oh that there’s Ennis.” The bartender answered without taking his glance from polishing the pock-marked and weathered surface of the bar. “Wife kicked him to the curb a few years back, married someone else, moved away with his two daughters. Doesn’t have any family around here anymore, and works off and on when the ranches that are left have work for him. Kinda quiet. Keeps to himself.”

The man nodded his thanks before asking for two more beers. The bartender handed them off, and went about his business as the man picked up the beers and headed to the dark corner of the bar where Ennis sat brooding, fingers restlessly pulling the labels off his empties. 

“Merry Christmas to you, friend.” The man held one of the beers out to Ennis, who stared at him for a long moment, as though deciding whether to remain seated or bolt for the exit. The man stood his ground, bottle extended patiently as though used to biding his time. 

Finally, Ennis reached out a hand, accepting the cold bottle without meeting the man’s eyes, shrugging his shoulders noncommittally when the man silently asked permission to slide onto the stool next to him. 

There was silence for a few minutes, each man lost in thought, perhaps mourning the losses of Christmases past, or hoping for better Christmases yet to come. But the quiet was peaceful, not strained in the least, although the two were strangers who had just met on this snowy Christmas night.

Finally, the man sighed and turned to his drinking companion, sizing him up with a quick glance, seeming to come to an internal decision in that one moment of appraisal. 

“I wonder if you could help me, Ennis.” Ennis looked startled at the use of his name, until the man pointed in the bartender’s direction in explanation of his knowledge. 

Ennis nodded curtly, in understanding and permission for the man to continue with his request for assistance. It was an unusual circumstance that anyone who had known the normally reserved and confirmed loner for more than a few minutes would have been surprised to see.

“I am passing through your town on this snowy Christmas eve on the way to my childhood home; a small ranch near the Big Sky Country border.” The man paused, smile widening as he saw the spark of interest quietly ignite in Ennis’s eyes at the mention of a ranch.

“My parents have both recently passed, and I find myself in possession of something which I would have had no interest in just a few short months ago.” The man turned his attention to the bartender, holding up two fingers and waiting for fresh beers to be delivered before them. 

“You inherited a ranch and don’t want it?” Ennis instinctively moved closer to the man, who he now noticed had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen; eyes that were warm and accepting; eyes that did not judge him or dismiss him as a failure for struggling to make a living using the only skills anyone had ever bothered to teach him. 

“Well, that’s not entirely true.” The man spoke ruefully, holding his hopes tightly in rein although he was used to going after anything he wanted aggressively, almost recklessly, yet knowing pressing too hard in this case, would cause someone like Ennis to retreat and reject all further discussion.

The man recognized providence when he encountered it, and was certain now it was no coincidence that led both of them to this bar on this special night at this particular time in their lives. The man was a firm believer in fate.

“I’ve been living in Texas for close to twenty years.” he explained, offering a cigarette to his drinking companion. “It seems my daddy hadn’t been up to taking care of the place properly for quite some time now.” He paused to blow a few smoke rings over Ennis’s head, feeling a small tingle in the pit of his stomach as he saw Ennis’s eyes drawn to his lips as he took another pull on his cigarette.

“Now, six months or a year ago, I would have simply tried to sell it off.” The man tapped some ash into his empty beer bottle. “But it seems my wife has recently decided she would like to be a free woman, unencumbered by a husband who no longer lights her fire, as she put it, and so it looks like I will be trying my hand at ranching; suddenly and unexpectedly I might add.”

“What do you need my help with?” Ennis leaned in closer to the man, confused at his reaction, yet enjoying the companionship more than he’d enjoyed anything in a very long time.

“It’s too much for one man to tackle on his own, and I hear from our friend the barkeep, that you are an experienced ranch hand, looking for a job.” The man raised his eyebrows, the offer quite evident in his expression. 

“It’s a small cow and calf operation, and I can’t pay much to start. But it’s the chance for a new beginning, and somehow I think that is something we both need at this time in our lives. “

Ennis felt a mix of fear and anticipation at the man’s words, but he was also smart enough to accept the truth when he heard it, and for the first time since his wife had taken his girls away, he felt a renewed interest in life and the possibilities of those things he only considered late at night, alone in his shitty trailer.

“So you just expect me to head off for parts unknown with you on a handshake and a promise.” Ennis gave the man a sideways glance. “I don’t even know your name.” 

The man laughed and stubbed out his cigarette before holding out his hand. “That is exactly what I am proposing to you, Ennis. By the way, my name is Twist; Jack Twist.”

And together they left the bar, heading out into the silently falling snow on Christmas night, perhaps one step closer to finding their way home.


End file.
